MOSCOW - Russia said on Monday it was ready for dialog with Petro Poroshenko, who is on course to become Ukraine's president, but warned the Kiev authorities not to step up armed operations against separatists in the east.

Echoing remarks by President Vladimir Putin in the past few days, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said genuine dialog between Kiev and the east - where pro-Russian separatists have rebelled against the national leadership - was the key to resolving Ukraine's crisis.